Improvement in paper-fasteners



E. W. VAN BENSOHOTEN. Paper-Fastener.

Patented Dec. 17, 1878..

f'ely/ E3? 12 4 I 12 Z @2 d I witnesses Imwvdwv- UNITED STATES PATENT @FFTGE.

EDNARD W. VAN BENSGHOTEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. I

IMPROVEM ENT IN PAPER-FASTENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 210,S5, dated December 17, 1878; application filed June 19, 1878.

To a! L whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD \V. VAN BEN- so1I0trEN,of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification:

The main object of my invention is to pro duce a metal fastener for paper, cloth, the, formed from a single strip of metal, having a single penetrating-point in line with its shank or body, and capable of being forced directly into the material to be fastened without the necessity of any previous punching or puncturing to receive it.

To this end my invention may be stated to consist in a fastener formed of a single flat strip of metal, having one en d dull, and adapted for a head, its insertible end tapering gradually and uniformly to a sharp penetratingpointin line with its shank or body, witha "secondary prong or nib formed within the outline of the penetrating-point by a slit concentric therewith, so arranged and constructed that the point may be forced directly into the material to be fastened, after which the two divisions of the point are bent in opposite directions upon the under surface of the material, as hereinafter fully set forth.

Figures 1, 2, 3, and d of the annexed drawings illustrate the different forms and sizes in which my improved fastener may be manufactured.

Paper-fasteners heretofore made have been usually formed with dull, obtuse points, thus requiring a puncture to be made through the material to be fastened previous to their insertion, and are also commonly formed with two or more distinct prongs, which require separate punctures; or, in other cases, where the prong is single it is formed of two distinct parallel leaves or layers of metal, which. are bent apart after their insertion, as in the wellknown McGill fasteners.

As shown in the drawing, I construct my improved fastener of a single fiat strip of sheet metal, preferably of brass, as usual. One end is dull or square, as shown at a, forming the head end, while the opposite end, which forms the insertible shank, tapers gradually and uniformly to a sharp penetrating point, (7, adapted, as will be seen, to be forced directly into the material to be secured without any previous puncturing.

A secondary pron or nib, o, is formed on the insertible end within the limit of the penetrating-point by means of a concentric slit, which follows the outline of the penetratingpoint, or nearly so, as shown, leaving the nib in the same flat parallel line with the shank and penetrating-point of the fastener, and of about the same length as the outer penetratin g-point, but capable of being bent outward and backward after the fastener is inserted, as will be understood. The head end of the fastener is formed in a similar manner, with a secondary nib or tongue, Z2, formed by an internal slit concentric with the outline of the head, which nib may be bent at right angles to the shank of the fastener in one direction, while the outer slotted end, a, is bent in the opposite direction, thus forming the head.

The fastener thus formed may be furnished in the perfectly-fiat form; or the nibs on the head end may be previously bent outward to provide the head already formed.

As will now be understood, my fastener is used by forcing its penetrating end directly into the material to be secured, after which the two divisions of its penetrating end-the point (I and nib or tongue care bent in opposite directions, flatwise with the under sur face of the material, while the divisions of the head end, if not already bent, are flattened against the upper surface of the material in a similar manner.

The advantage of my improved fastener is, that it may be forced directly into the mate rial without previous punching, as described, and being constructed of a single flat strip of metal, its construction is much simpler and cheaper, and its form more compact, so that a larger number of the fasteners can be kept in a smaller space, and can also be conveniently carried in the pocket.

My improved fastener, while adapted for fastening various materials, has been particularly designed for cloth-samples, for which its readiness of insertion, its compact form, and

capacity of being carried in the pocket are of formed by a slit concentric with and Within material advantage to salesmen, buyers, and the outline of the point, and of similar length others for whose use it is specially designed. therewith, whereby the fastener is adapted to What I claim as my invention isbe forced lengthwise directly into the material As an improved article of manufacture, a to be fastened, substantially as herein shown cloth and paper fastener formed of a flat strip and described.

of metal, having one end dull, adapted for a 1 head, and provided with the tongue I), and the EDNVARD BENSQHOTEN' opposite end tapered gradually and uniformly WVitnesses: v

to a sharp penetrating-point, in line with its H. D. HUBBELL,

shank or body, with an internal bendable nib SAML. M. SMITH. 

